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"There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island." - Walt Disney

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Brevity

The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.- Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson admired the beauty of brevity. He urged authors to remember that the goal in writing is to communicate an idea, not show how many words you know.

Strive for brevity in your own work. Write first. Then edit. Remove all the words you can live without and still tell your story. Does your piece still make sense? Are your ideas clearly communicated? Then, your editing works. You are "tightening your writing."

Tweeting is a good exercise in brevity. Just think how much information can be conveyed in 140 characters or less. Remember that when it's time to revise.

Always write with an open heart. Never limit yourself in the first draft. However, keep Jefferson's words present as you edit. After all, he helped write the Declaration of Independence, the document establishing the right to be an independent nation, using less than fourteen hundred wisely selected words!

22 comments:

Brevity is necessary when everyone is crushed for time. But there is a point where brevity spoils the result, when one must interpret. The skill of being precise or specific is important when using brevity.

Too much brevity and your story loses something. It becomes a caricature of a tale. You have to be very careful when you edit that you don't take out too much. But the proper balance can be reached if you work at it.

"Brevity is the soul of wit.""I would have written a shorter letter, but I didn't have time."

The first is Shakespeare, the second Twain? The goal isn't to edit it back down to an outline, but to use only the words needed. I recently did a post on this, as a review of Roy Peter Clark's Writing Short.http://www.ninjalibrarian.com/2014/03/progressive-book-club-writing-short.html

Being brief has never been my strong suit. I have, however, begun to edit down pieces of my writing over time a lot more than I ever used to. Perhaps a little more practice and it will just come naturally. Then again, the editing process exists for a reason :)

Heh. You're absolutely right.Brevity sure doesn't come as naturally to most writer as it should. I posted about brevity in science-fiction, because it's such an important thing and yet so painfully neglected. :)

About Me

Sylvia Ney is a freelance writer and teacher currently serving as a Board Member of both the Texas Gulf Coast Writers and Bayou Writers Group. She has published newspaper and magazine articles, photography, poetry, and short stories. She enjoys encouraging other writers.

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